The first place to where victims of violence flee

The first place to where victims of violence flee

JAKARTA (JP): Talks on religion and violence against women
last month not only delved into descriptions of how violence
towards women is condoned through the abuse of religious
interpretation, but also heard concrete proposals and experiences
of how religious institutions have dealt with women seeking help.

Magdalena of the Sikap organization said its services to
victims of violence since 1995 was driven by the many victims of
sexual assault particularly among women and children, who had no
access to "medical, psychological and spiritual help."

A comprehensive type of service was seen as urgent among the
mostly charity-type centers in the Christian network, she said.
She acknowledged that one constraint in her work is the tendency
of church workers to be "exclusive" and also the suspicion among
people that church workers aim to convert non-believers.

Another presentation by First Lady Sinta Nuriyah Rahman
focused on Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) and explained the
background to the establishment of the Puan Amal Hayati
Association, a network of women's pesantren.

In her written address she touched on the May 1998 riots among
the series of violent events in the country.

It was a shocking wake up call, she said, to "the very painful
reality that we actually have no social institutions equipped to
take in large numbers of victims and refugees over a long period,
caused by the continuous social and political conflicts in our
land."

However it has been proven, she said, that the first places
victims flee to are religious institutions such as the pesantren
and mosques (meunasah) in Aceh, or the churches and temples. In
the aftermath of the riots, she said she was often asked to find
sanctuaries for victims or refugees.

"It was the pesantren that instantly came to mind," she said,
"as someone born and raised" in one.

The schools are spread everywhere, while "we know that
violence towards women -- though it is very sad and hard to say
-- also happens everywhere," Sinta Nuriyah said.

"So I thought, why not empower the pesantren to become crisis
centers?"

Such crisis centers would have to take in victims from
violence both inside and outside the home, thus the need to
"empower" institution leaders and staff to understand different
situations and how to handle victims.

A few such centers set up over the past few years are
accessible to residents of Greater Jakarta, but none, she said,
match the strategic position of the pesantren given the vast
number of schools in villages, and the charisma of the kyai or
nyai (kyai's wife) in charge.

"Traditional ties within the pesantren are formed by student-
teacher relations and marriage, which has led to very strong
networks," Sinta Nuriyah wrote. She said this means that if one
pesantren cannot accommodate victims and their families, if the
schools are too close to perpetrators of violence for example,
"they can be moved to another, safer school."

Although several pesantren were in poor condition, she said
they blend very well into society, meeting the needs of both
children who can still study at local schools and the mothers who
must lie low.

Continuous waves of terror throughout various regions, Sinta
Nuriyah said, has strengthened the determination to increase the
sanctuary function of the pesantren.

She added that although leading figures of such schools are
known to view women as subordinates, "this does not mean that
this can't change."

Sinta Nuriyah has long been involved in a project on religious
reinterpretation of the position of women in Islam in Fatayat NU,
the women's branch of the Nahdlatul Ulama organization.

Also a member of the National Commission on Violence Against
Women, she adds, "the history of the women's movement in
Indonesia has underlined that the potential for change in gender
relations towards a more just pattern began in the religious
communities."

The statement reflects a distinct departure from the days when
organizations leaning to the government said it was not viable to
set up crisis centers here, as Indonesian women would not bring
shame to the family and air dirty laundry.

Sinta Nuriyah cited the regular talks among women at the
pesantren on religion and gender, "which are always packed
because they meet the basic need (of women) to search for
justice."

Another strategic consideration of pesantren is their long
relationship with activists in Muslim organizations such as
Fatayat, of which Sinta Nuriyah is a member.

The initial network under the Puan Amal Hayati Association now
has a few pesantren but the founders are picky.

"We can't select schools where the kyai practices polygamy," a
founder confided to The Jakarta Post. (anr)